The blog for CR Inside. Much talk about all things CR Inside...

Celebrate Recovery is prominently featured in the feature film Home Run.

"We have to break the cycle"Burl Cain, Warden, Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola, LA speaks on Celebrate Recovery® and how CR is changing the lives of those on the inside as witnessed through the message of Cory Brandt's life in Home Run the Movie. Check out how you can host a viewing of Home Run the Movie in your facility by clicking here.

Home Run screenings in prison and jails continue, have you introduced it at the facility where you serve? The response from inmates, chaplains, and wardens has been awesome. You can still order a license agreement that is good for one year, at less than one-fifth the cost to outside churches and organizations. Here’s the link: http://providentfilms.org/homerun/chaplains.php

Read what the ministry leader at my home CR, Norma Murphy, wrote after accompanying our Inside Team to Eddie Warrior’s Women’s CC; as they screened Home Run to the residents there: "I have seen Home Run about 50 times: in theaters, in homes, in churches, with believers, with non-believers, with pastors, with CR leaders and more! But our experience last Sunday at Eddie Warrior Correctional Facility, in Taft, OK, surpassed them all!! We had 140 women enjoy absolutely every moment, laughing at the humor, intimately relating to the pain, reciting the Serenity Prayer with emotion and finding encouragement as the characters found freedom in Jesus Christ! We were deeply moved to watch the response of these women and are more proud of this movie than ever and more passionate about getting into EVERY prison and jail in Oklahoma! As always, I'm so blessed to be inside our Oklahoma prisons and see God so powerfully at work!! (Many thanks to our Celebrate Recovery leaders who take CR Inside [to] the jails every week!!)”.

And if that’s not enough, watch the Burl Cain video, if you haven’t yet. Click here to watch the video.

Editor’s note: Shortly before the national release of the movie Home Run, I got to sit with Associate Producer Micah Barnard and Co-Executive Producer Carol Mathews (Co-executive Producer Tom Newman was in England filming “The Christmas Candle”). Their faith in God and faith in what they do is evident in this interview, and evident as well in their vision for the film and for the message that Home Run seeks to bring to this world. DJ

CRIN: Let’s start with your experience of taking the film to Angola (Prison in Louisiana) and what that was like for you.

Micah: It was a surreal experience and very humbling. I had an impression in my mind of what it was going to be like, and it was completely not that impression at all. The inmates were very receptive to the film open, very appreciative that we brought it to them. Many admitted to fighting back tears and it was just a really, really great experience. I got to interview a few of the inmates and hear their thoughts on the film and overwhelmingly everyone was saying that they were just really impressed, not only by the quality of the acting but everything from the cinematography to the way it was directed. I didn’t expect to hear inmates talk that way, and so it was really interesting. They have seen a lot of films, these guys, and so they were really impressed with the film and very appreciative of it.

From the Editor

Why indeed? For those of us who’ve participated in this ministry, we know the challenges of seeing folks struggle to make it in Step Study, struggle to complete their time, and struggle upon release. We’ve been discouraged by our brothers and sisters who volunteer with us who don’t stay committed. For many who don’t participate, it’s difficult to understand. Ninety years ago (March 1923) British mountain climber George Mallory was asked why he wanted to attempt to climb Mt Everest after failing to reach the summit twice before. “Because it’s there” was his reply, and that famous quote has gone on to represent many endeavors. On his fateful third attempt, as observers saw him get to within 1000 feet of the summit, he fell to his death; but we can also see, that he died trying. He never gave up.

In Philippians 4:14 Paul says, “I press on toward the goal…” and in verse 15 encourages us to do the same. And so, we continue to do what we do, “Because it’s there”; and for many, we feel blessed to serve, grateful for where God has brought us from, and hopeful for those whom we serve. How many times have you left the prison yard, or the jail, wondering who got more blessed? Yeah, I know that feeling. We don’t always get to see the fruits of our labor, but what a blessing when we do. Right now, I’m co-leading a step study at our church with a man who was a leader of two step studies inside.